very nice game ...

thanks

In the final position Black is dead lost. White has all the play. White will win the pawn on a2, but there is no rush. That gains a tempo on a7. Black can't play Nd5 because of Rxd5. If Qe7 or Kf8, to play Nd5, then Bxf6. White has Ne5 hitting g6 and d7. Black can't lose an exchange without being a rook down.

I must say i have come through worse positions - i feel he resigned prematurely - much better going on too long than being premature

(Good advice in most things i should say)

It's difficult for me to see why Banawa resigned. I understand that he's down by one bishop and his king has not castle. But I thought that 4 more pawns could balance the game.

nice game by white!!

i hope one day ot this to became a very good chessplayer like this !

EmTom wrote, "To all those guys telling us what black should have done: YOU SHOULD PLAY AGAINST GM AND SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE :)" Excuse me, I think you should question what "those guys" wrote, not who they are. I do not claim a select right to make suggestions because I have wins, draws, and losses against grandmasters. How would you know what experience "those guys" have?

Bringing back Danish flair!  Who needs pawns anyway?

To all those guys telling us what black should have done: YOU SHOULD PLAY AGAINST GM AND SEE WHAT IT'S LIKE :)

BLACK SHOUD OF PROTECTED his pawn

6...dxc4 looked terrible to me immediately.  I'm just a casual player, but I don't understand how this move could improve black's position.

to Bowanza:

You mean ...Kd7?? to protect the rook.

This is not possible because White will capture the f7 pawn with check followed by capturing the f6 knight.

bowanza, wrote"on move 13, ...Rf8 was not the only possible reply.  He could have played ...Kd2, correct?" You seem to mean Rg8 and Kd7. If 13...Kd7, the queen protects the rook, but nothing protects against 14.Qxf7+ Ne7 15.Ne5#.

on move 13, ...Rf8 was not the only possible reply.  He could have played ...Kd2, correct?

There is only one Shabalov, but there are two Banawas. The FM is Joel. Here are some quick thoughts on the game:

6...dxc4?! cannot be played to hold the pawn. 6...Ne4, which does not give up the center, has to be better and offers a better way to simplify than 7...Bxd2?. 7...0-0 is better than Bxd2, even if 8.Nxc4. In the game, after 9.b3 Black could try to obstruct White dark-square bishop with b5 10.cxb4 b4 11.a3 a5 or 10.a4 a6 11.axb5 axb5 12.bxc4 b4. In the game after 12.Qg4, if f5 13.Qxg7 Qf6 14.Qxc7 looks bad, but  a move earlier 11...h6 12.Qxg7 Rh7! 13.Qf8+ Kd7 and the queen exchange may leave Black with too many pawns to lose, so White can try 14.Qc5. Later, instead of 14...Nd4!?, 14...Rg6 15.Qd2 (not 15.Qh4 Rg4 16.Qh6 Rg6 and probably never Qh3) Ne4 16.Qe3 f5 and Black is not out of danger, but has ideas Kf7/Ne7.

This line had been played before, pawn sacrifice included (check your database), actually it is so good for white, that one wonders why Black decided to play this variation in the first place! I found two games one played in 1991, the other one in 2001, since then nobody has tried this again.... until now!

On the other hand, I don´t like the look of Nc6, what does the knight do there for Black´s cause? Much more popular and very likely better is 4...b6 with the idea of Bb7.

The new move appears to be Black´s 9...cxb3, previously 9...Ne7 was played with very bad results. It´s funny that if you analyze this position with a program it would "say" white is somewhere between slightly to clearly better: another reason for not playing this as Black.

Is not my intention to belittle Shaba´s fine execution, but don´t you get the impression that Black was playing suicidal chess???

I really dislike black's play on

11. ...    Ne4

12. Qg4, Nf6

Complete waste of a very valuble tempo, black should have been able to anticipate Qg4.

Yes, I think 15...Nxf3+ is the best try for black although 16. Bxf3 white still has the better game with the more active pieces and safer King.

One question though, why did black not go with 15. Nxf3? it would have the same effect as taking the pawn.

i really love the way shabalov prevented black from castling. so useful!